All posts tagged ‘klutz’

Klutz expands its line of Star Wars activity books with Star Wars Thumb Doodles. The concept is simple to kids to grasp. First, you use the four ink pads on the side of the book to make fingerprints on the page. Next, you add details with the two-color pencil — shaped like a light saber — and black marker.

The 40-page Star Wars Thumb Doodles book includes step-by-step instructions for creating characters from both trilogies — although it leans heavily towards the original three movies. Kids can learn to create cartoon versions of Luke, Leia, Han, and lots of others.

Each page has some space for kids to test out the directions for themselves, but you’ll want to have extra paper nearby to keep going. One nice feature are the spreads that give you a background to fill with characters, like the Mos Eisley cantina or Jabba’s palace.

There are also pages with panels to try putting characters like Yoda and C-3PO in different situations. One page gets you started doodling “the many moods of Darth Vader,” including on the run and snoozing.

As someone who teaches art to kids, what I like about the thumb doodle books is that they encourage them to combine unlikely elements, and to look for inspiration in random marks. It also shows kids some of the conventions of drawing comics (such as motion lines and zzzzz’s), as well as how to create different facial expressions and body positions.

As with all Klutz books, the spiral binding and heavy paper make it easy to use. The ink pads, pencil and marker all store neatly in the box attached to the side of the book. I like that kids are encouraged to get messy — something that is not often encouraged nowadays!

But based on comments from some reviewers, parents might want to spread some paper underneath the book to protect table tops, and throw a smock or old t-shirt over your kids clothes to deal with the inevitable moment when they go to wipe off their hands on the nearest thing handy. Keeping a damp paper towel nearby is also recommended.

All in all, the Star Wars Thumb Doodles book from Klutz is another great addition to their line of art books, and will be appreciated by all the Star Wars fans in your family.

It’s a happy coincidence that I can tell you at the same time about a fun book that helps make learning about astronomy more accessible to kids, and about an excellent annual opportunity to do some hands-on astronomy. You see, my family has had the opportunity to review The Klutz Guide to the Galaxy, and today happens to be the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower.

First, about the meteor shower, since it’s the part of this that’s transitory — if you read my review tomorrow, it won’t affect the quality of the book. The Lyrid meteor shower occurs every year when Earth passes through the tail of Comet Thatcher, and, while it’s not usually quite as spectacular as some other meteor showers (the Perseids, say), it’s still worth taking a look for it. Unfortunately, the pre-dawn hours this morning were probably the best time to look, but those who look tonight should still see some shooting stars if weather conditions permit. As the shower’s name implies, the meteors will appear to emanate from the constellation Lyra, and specifically the star Vega (which fans of Carl Sagan’s novel Contact and the film based on it will recall as the source of the alien transmissions). More information on how to locate the meteors can be found online.

The Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series is by most accounts much better than it has any right to be, considering the lousy live-action trilogy and animated movie on which it’s based. One of its better characteristics is the high quality of the art and animation, and if your kids are anything like mine, they’ve tried their hand at drawing the characters themselves.

So I was very excited to receive a review copy of the new Klutz book Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars. My wife, who’s a far better artist than I am, sat down with my kids to try out the techniques the book teaches. It instructs you to follow a step-by-step process, working from the inside of each character to the outside, which is good advice (according to my wife) for drawing any sort of figure, whether Star Wars-related or not.

The book includes a set of colored pencils, a “Star Wars”-branded automatic pencil and marker, and a good eraser. Tracing sheets are interspersed with instructions on how to draw the various characters, droids, and accessories, making the process even easier to follow. There is a very good variety in the figures chosen, from humans like Obi-Wan and Anakin to “big, sloppy” creatures like Jabba the Hutt to Battle Droids and Droidekas. The text is well-written, containing plenty of story-oriented detail along with the drawing directions — I particularly liked the page that allows you to customize and name your own clones.

I heartily recommend the book for anyone who enjoys or whose kids enjoy the TV series. I, even with my lack of drawing talent, was able to create a few drawings that were, if not great, at least identifiable as what they were intended to be. And my kids have been having a blast drawing the characters they like — Yoda is their current favorite.

Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars, by the Editors of Klutz and the inestimable Bonnie Burton (whom if you’re not following on Twitter, you should), retails for $16.95, though it can easily be found for less. You can also be entered to win a copy of the book by leaving a comment on this post before noon PST tomorrow (December 1), telling us who your favorite character on the Clone Wars TV series is. The giveaway is only open to U.S. residents (or those with a usable U.S. mailing address).

Wired: Very easy to follow instructions with great step-by-step guides. Enough detail about the story and characters to make the book unique, but not so much that it isn’t useful as a tool in learning good basic drawing skills.

Tired: They do include Ahsoka and Jar-Jar, which as a parent I understand are there for the kids. But I don’t have to like them.